Old 07-05-20, 04:32 PM
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merziac
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Bikes: Merz x 5 + Specialized Merz Allez x 2, Strawberry/Newlands/DiNucci/Ti x3, Gordon, Fuso/Moulton x2, Bornstein, Paisley,1958-74 Paramounts x3, 3rensho, 74 Moto TC, 73-78 Raleigh Pro's x5, Marinoni x2, 1960 Cinelli SC, 1980 Bianchi SC, PX-10 X 2

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Originally Posted by RiddleOfSteel
No build thread here, no I'm-making-friends-today strong opinion(s) to throw down, just perhaps an open discussion on what you've all done when, upon some event, fitting, or mental realization, you now know that whatever size range you've been riding is no longer ideal.

Many moons ago, I started with a 21"/52cm bike as it was given to me to restore (the couple couldn't take it with them in a cross-country move). At 6'5", yeah, it was too small, but I had a lovely 1985 Schwinn World Sport in baby blue! As the next couple of years went on, I found myself learning, and warming to, larger sizes more appropriate for my height, eventually settling on the oft-ubiquitous-enough 25"/63.5cm frame size offered my many a 1980's manufacturer. My 1985 Ross Signature 294S was that inaugural bike and set me on a course for years to come. A few smaller and a few larger than that framesets passed through my hands, but the 25" size was my "center" in the frameset world.

A recent bike fit, spurred by a nagging knee injury (from an innate bio-mechanical reality) and finally dealt with a year later (thank you illness and Coronavirus for the, uh, extra seven month delay), has fixed that knee issue while also raising my saddle height a literal inch. An inch! I had brought the height down over the recent years in trying to appease this not-yet-identified issue--at least 0.5" to 0.75" below what I had set it at five to seven years ago, and it was now too low.

As many of us know, and many of you (you can roll your eyes now/again) know about me, a bike has to fit and look good/the part doing it. Well, when you take 25" frames with previous exposed seat post amounts and jack them up another inch, not only do they look a bit funny (to me), but they also leave your bar/stem/hoods setting, so carefully crafted for the "race look" or the "sleek look" or the "classic look", for dead. That 2" saddle-to-bar/hood drop becomes a considerable 3", and that 3.4" saddle-to-hood drop (Allez SE) becomes an untenable 4.4" drop. Without Saint Nitto Technomic, my now-too-small frames are doomed to life without their rider, or if with their rider, life looking a bit awkward. What is (my) vanity to do???

My Davidson Impulse was the bike I took for the fitting/fit analysis (a well-respected and recommended fellow), and is thus "the mark" to which other (new) bikes/bike refittings will be measured against. It measures 64cm CTT, with a quill stem conversion and stem run right off the top of the headset. 3" bar to hood drop now (was 2" before), but with everything, it's been workable as I've ridden the new fit over the last few days. Saddle height may come down 5-6mm or it may not, but it's working pretty well so far as I get used to it. I mean, the lack of left knee pain now is HUGE. It means I can bike to a fatigue point and not to a pain/injury point!!!

So what's the fuss? Gotta get new frames? Cry us a river, right? I don't know. Though I do know, currently, that 64cm CTT frames are the low limit for frame size right now, and that 66cm is now the ideal for exposed seat post proportion and recouping the "lost" two-inch saddle-to-hood drop comfort. I can't bear to see my Prologue and Allez SE look like gawky giraffes, so they're going to be for sale soon. :/ I bought back my former 66cm Land Shark and am planning a bright future for it. My supposedly 25" '74 Paramount is actually a 64cm, but it looks pretty awkward at this stage. My now-modified (wider rim/inflated tire clearance in front, better/modern canti brakes) '83 Specialized Expedition, a luminary as expressed in my build thread, is on pause. You see how this goes....

My question to you all, who have gone from X size to larger, or X size to smaller, or had to adjust saddle or bar positions on everything (whether due to fit, age, injury, or preference)--did you fight it for a little while, or accept the realities quickly enough and adapt. Were you bummed out, and if so, how much? Or did you relish the opportunity to fit something new/better and keep on biking because dang, if biking isn't fun!

A final note before turning this novel over to the rest of you is, a 27" (68.5cm) frame is something that I can handle, having done it before. It's the top tube length that is the critical bit. Many manufacturers grow that top tube length considerably for the super tall humans among us, leaving at least a few of us in bike fit no-man's land. I'm looking forward to seeing what I can find, but it'll be a search for sure. Big bikes ride great, I just need to get a comfortable setup going on them!
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